“Comparing the two finals from last week to today, the main difference was that today I was better prepared mentally. Believing in her ability right until the very end, Ni managed to claw back the deficit in each of the subsequent games, but it wasn’t enough to stop Liu from holding her first WTT singles trophy aloft (10-12, 11-2, 11-5, 11-7, 11-8). Not an ideal start for Liu, but the 22-year-old hit back straight away as she secured game two by a dominant nine-point margin. Restricted to a Women’s Singles runner-up finish one week earlier at the first WTT Contender Slovenia Hub event, China’s Liu Weishan went one better on the final day in Laško.įacing off against Luxembourg’s Ni Xia Lian, 58, Liu encountered early trouble after dropping the opening game to the eighth seed. I’m very happy to have played in Slovenia, as I’ve enjoyed the local environment during my stay here,” said Liang Jingkun The win came down to one or two points here or there, so today’s final was tough. Today’s final against Wang Chuqin was even tougher than last week’s final because our skill is evenly matched. I think I performed well here, and I hope to be even better prepared for the upcoming World Championships in Houston. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve been knocked out of a competition. Wang stepped up to retake the lead, but Liang’s “never say die” attitude proved vital as he recovered games six and seven to squeeze over the finish line 4-3 ahead (9-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8, 12-10). It was a fierce duel with little margin for error, and both players knew the importance of taking every opportunity that presented itself. However, an immediate response from Liang saw the scores tied up a 2-2 heading into game five. Wang started faster out of the blocks and was rewarded with the opening two games of the contest. National teammate Wang Chuqin provided the opposition this time out, and the fourth seed gave Liang, seeded third, a good run for his money. Requirements of the Registered Testing Poolīeating Kazakhstan’s Kirill Gerassimenko to the title at WTT Contender Laško, Liang Jingkun encountered a very different proposition one week on. Testing procedures – Urine, Blood & the ABP The Chinese Table Tennis Association has already made a complaint to the ITTF.Use of Medications & Risk of Supplements Use However, this is not the first time that racism and harassment have been directed at Chinese athletes. Liang, who was talking to his coach at the time of the unpleasant episode, seems to not have been affected and finally won the competition. Without the clear video from the scene, it is currently not possible to confirm the identity and motivation of that person, or whether it was an organized, premeditated behavior. Meanwhile, Liang was communicating with his coach during the short break.Īll of a sudden, a man, who spoke in English, heckled loudly from the stands, "yellow banana, yellow!" The man shouted louder and louder and led several people to echo around in succession, shouting for a while before they stopped.Īlthough it looked as if the man was saying that Pitchford was eating a banana, given that the word "banana" is an insult to the yellow race in English slang, and based on the actual circumstances, it is also reasonable to suspect that he was actually making a racist insult against Liang.
As he was resting, he ate a banana which was handed to him. When the score was 8-4 in the tiebreaker, Pitchford, who had just won a goal, motioned to the referee that he wanted to rest. Throughout the game, the two players had a fierce competition and chased each other in the score. The ITTF said in a statement on Sunday night that it won't tolerate any racist behavior and it has been working closely with the local organizing committee to prevent any racist incidents from happening again at the games. However, there was an unexpected cacophony from the stands, with someone shouting "yellow banana," a suspected racist insult to the Chinese player, according to media reports.
The fourth round of men's singles between China's Liang Jingkun and England's Liam Pitchford at the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships took place on Saturday in Huston. Photo: ITTFThe International Table Tennis Federation （ITTF） said on Sunday it strongly opposes any form of racism and will prevent such kind of incidents from happening again after some media reports said someone shouted "yellow banana" earlier during a round of men's singles at the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston, the US.
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